Measuring instrument



Oct. 19, 1937. o. T. HANDWERK MEASURING INSTRUMENT Filed Feb. 9, 1935 '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 SheetsSheet 2 o. T. HANDWERK Filed Feb. 9, 1955 Oct. 19, I93 7.

MEASURING INSTRUMENT l; Ai

Oct. 19, 1937 o. T-. HANDWERK MEASURING INSTRUMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 9, 1935 m rkwr MI mum duke/dor- Otto T /alzd IX Oct. 19, 1937. O, T, HANDWERK 2,096,035

MEASURING INS TRUMENT Filed Feb. 9, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jude/2602 Otto Tfimdzderk Oct. 19, 1937.

O. T. HANDWERK MEASURING INSTRUMENT Filed Feb. 9, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented a. 19; 1931 mrasoamo om 'r.

INSTRUMENT ChlmllL -isn rtoae- Handwerk, public Flowileters Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February I, 1935, Serial No. 5,719

SCIIIIM.

This invention relates to measuring instruments and more particularly to mechanical instruments for indicating and/or recording the flow of fluid through a conduit.

According to one desirablearrangement, a U- tube containing a colmnn of mercury is connected across an orifice in a flow conduit so that the level of mercury in the tube will vary with changes of fluid flow. A float rests on the merof the casing by means of a novel adjustable connection which enables zero adjustment of the instrument. rotatable shaft is mounted adjacent the slotted lever and carries a second lever having a pin engaging the slot so that the second lever will be-drlv'en to rotate m share Suitable mas,

cating and/or recording mechanism is connected to the shaft to be operated thereby. By this ar-' rangement rotation of the flrst shaft due to varying angularity of the float connecting link is compensated for and, movement of the second lever and shaft is exactly proportionate to movement of the float.

The second lever is connected to its shaft by a novel adjustable mounting by which the instrument may be readily calibrated. I

The above and other objects, advantages and novel features will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing an instrument embodying the invention.- It is to be understood; however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1- is a view with in section and Dartslin elevation of an'instrument embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional 7 view of the instrument of Figure 1; A

Figure 3 is a view looking from the left of Figtile indiure 1, with the panel removed showing eating and totaling mechanism;

Figure'iisapartiaivlewsimilartoF'igureiishowing the settingand calibratingadjustments;

Figure 5'is an operating diagram of the connectinglinkage of Figure 1;

Figure 6 ice perspective view of the recording and totaling mechanism;

Figures 7, 8, and 9 are views showing different positions of a portion of the linkage of Figure 6;

Figure 10 is an elevation'of a modified indi-- 8 11113886; i 7

Figure 11 is a front view of a dial for use with the linkage of Figure 10;

Figures 12 and 13 are views showing two' interparts of the mechanism in diflerent positions; and '1 Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating the designing of a square-root cam on'one of the parts in Figures 12 and 13. Referring more particularly to the drawings there is shown therein a flow meter embodying the invention constituted by a "high pressure chamber' and a low pressure chamber 22 connected at their lower portions to form a U-tube. 'Ihe chambers are adapted to contain mercury and a suitable drain plug 24 may be provided to remove the mercury therefrom. The low pressure chamber 22 is preferably detachably connected so that different sized chambers can be substituted to provide for different pressure ranges. &

The high pressure chamber 20 is connected by a pipe 28 with the high pressure side of an oriflce in a conduit (not shown) the flow through which is to be measured and chamber 22 is connected by a pipe 28 with the low pressure side of the orifice. In this way the mercury level in the chambers is caused to vary in accordance with variations in the flow in a manner well understood in the art. If desired a valve controlled connection 3| may be provided between pipes 26 and 2. to equalize the pressure on the chambers and permit calibration of the instrument without interrupting flow through the conduit.

A float i2 rests on themercury in the high pressure chamber and is connected to a rotatable shaft 3 by a lever II pivoted to the float. The

, shaft 34 extends out through the chamber 2| through a seal II which is packed with grease and is held in place by a gland nut ll. A suitable thrust bearing 2 is providedfor taking the end thrust on the shaft.

Outside of the chamber, a lever 44 is secured to shaft 34 and a bell crank lever It is pivoted thereon adjacent lever 44. The end ofrlever l4 and one end of hell crank lever It are connected by a screw adjustment ll carried'by suitable flanges 0n the bell crank lever and threaded through a part II rotatably carried by lever ll. By this construction thekrelative positions of levers 44 and 40 can be'adjusted to set the instrument at zero, by manipulation of adjustment 48 by means such as a screw driver 49.

The other end of bell crank lever 46 is provided with a slot 52. A shaft 54 is rotatably mounted adjacent the bell crank lever and has secured thereto through a novel adjustable connection a lever 56 carrying a pin 58 which is slidable in slot 52. Lever 56 has a slot therein through which shaft, 54 passes and is provided with suitable flanges rotatably carrying a screw 60 which is threaded through shaft 54. By this means the efieotivelength of lever 56 can be adjusted and asimple calibration adjustment is provided for the instrument. 7

A lever 62 is secured to shaft 54 and this lever is connected through an adjustable screw connection 64 with a stub lever 66 which is'pivoted on the shaft. A pen arm 68 is adapted to be secured to lever 66 for cooperation with asuitable record chart.

If desired arm 68 maybe used as an instantaneous indicator, but preferably a pointer I0 (Fig. 3) is pivoted at any suitable point and connected by a link I2 with a third lever I4 secured to shaft 54.

A totaling mechanism of the type disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 135,041, filed April 5, 1937, which is a division of this case, is preferably provided to show the total amount of fluid flow over a period of time and as shown such mechanism is constitutedby a suitable cyclometer or other counter mechanism I6. Power means shown as an electric motor I8 is provided for periodically operating the totaling mechanism through a crank 80 having a crank pin 82 for operation in a slot in the end of a link 84. As the crank rotates, pin 82 engages the end ofthe slot in link 84 to pull the same downwardly into, the position of Figures 6, 7, and 8 and on further rotation the pin moves up to the position of Figure 9 in which link 84 is released and permitted to move upwardly.

Link 84 is connected at its upper end to one arm of a bell crank lever 86 which is pivoted on a fixed shaft 88. A spring 90 is connected to the bell crank lever urging it constantly in a clock-'- the end of lever 92 is located, thus forming a lost-motion connection between the two levers. Preferably a screw 98 is screwed through one of the flanges so that the amount of lost motion between the levers and the point at which they become drivably connected can be adjusted.

Lever 94 carries a suitable one-way drive connection I00 shown as of the type disclosed and claimed in the copendingiapplication -of George W. Grisdale, Serial No. 2,649, flied January ,21, 1935, now Patent 2,074,585, granted March 23, 1937. This connection I00 is constituted by a notchedlever mounted on a leaf spring which is secured to lever 94 and so arranged that the notch will bind on'a flange I02 on a gear wheel I04 when the lever 94 moves in one direction but not when it moves in the other. Thus gear wheel I04 will be driven in one direction and. drives the counter I6 through suitable gearing indicated in part in Figure 6;

The above mechanismcauses bell crank lever 86 to oscillate periodically about its pivot as illustrated in Figures '1, 8, and 9, to drive levers 92 and 94 and the counter. The degree of oscilwhat would be a lation of the bell crank is controlled by a novel square-root cam lever I06 mounted for pivotal movement about a shaft I08 and having on one edge a square-root cam surface to be engaged. by

a pin I I0 carried by lever 86. The position ofthe cam lever is controlled according to the position of lever 56 by an arm H2 rigid with lever 56 and a connecting link I M. The link '4 is pivoted to a lever I I6 pivoted on shaft I08 and yleldingly connected by a coil spring 8 with a lever I20 having an elongated pin I22 engaging both lever H6 and the cam lever I06. Spring IE8 is extended to engage the cam lever so that both the cam lever I06-and lever H6 are yieldingly connected to lever 20 and are yieldingly connected together.

The cam lever is preferably provided with a shouldeistop I24 adjacent its end corresponding to zero so that when the cam lever is in its zero position pin IIO will engage shoulder I24 and will be prevented from turning. The cam lever also has an extension carrying an arcuate sector I26 which is adapted to be engaged by a brake I28 to hold the cam lever stationary. The brake is urged into engagement with the sector I26 by any suitable spring (not shown) and is forced out .of engagement by operation of the crank 80 which is cam-shaped and engages a suitable cam roller carried by the brake.

If it is desired to form a permanent record of the flow measurements, a rotatable shaft I30 may be connected through suitable gearing I32 with the motor I8 for driving a chart (not shown) across which pen arm68 swings.

As shown in Figures 12-14, the lever I06 has a novel cam surface I06 engaged by the pin H0 in such a manner that angular movements of arm 86 are proportional to the square roots of the movements of lever I06, and are therefore proportional to the square root of the difierentlal pressures measured by float 32, and therefore are directly proportional to the flow being measured.

Figure 14 illustrates one method of laying out the contourof the cam surface I06 In this figure, lines I06 represent diiferent angular positions of arm I06 proportional to various uniform changes in flows, from 1 to (on any arbitrary scale), and therefore represent angular positions on a uniformly-graduated scale (shown for purposes of illustration as graduated from zero to 100) equal to the squares of those flows, or'equal to the diiferential pressures measured by the float 32. Lines 86a represent ten equally angularly spaced positions of the arm 86.

The dots "0 represent the intersections of lines86a with lines W611, and therefore represent the positions at which pin 0 should engage the edge of lever I06 to give equal spacings of arm 86 for equal changes in flow (i. e. for equal changes in the square roots of the differential pressures). B? is a circular arc struck about the axis of shaft 88, and therefore represents straight-edge on the cam sur-- face I06. Y

The surface I06? is readily plotted from the positions of intersections C. By comparing the positions of these intersections in Figure 14 with the curve "3, it will be seen that the surface I06, while not a straight line, is much more nearly so than in square-root cams previously used in meters and other instrumentsoflthis type. This facilitates accurate maiiu'facture at low cost, as the cam may be fo rmed by a simple blanking or shearing operation.

In operation of the measuring instrumentso far.

' swinging lever 88 and also lever 88 through the pin and slot connection therebetween. It will be noted that any irregularity of rotation of shaft 88 due to varying angularity of link 88 is com-' pensated for by calibration, by changing the relative lengths of levers 88 and 88 so that angular movement of lever 88 is always substantially directly proportional to the float travel. The zeroadjustment 58 enables the relative angular positions of shaft 88 and lever 88 to be adjusted so that the indicating mechanism can be set at zero regardless of slight variations in the mercury level without affecting the accuracy of tin instrument. i

Pivotal movement of lever 88 rotata shaft 88 and swings pen arm 88 so that its position is always directly dependent on the float position and flow through the conduit, the pen making a permanent record on'its associated chart in a manner well understood in the art. The calibration adjustment 88 enables the effective length .of lever 58 to be adjusted to produce different degrees of angular movement thereof for the same movement of lever 88. This enables accurate calibration of the instrument regardless of inaccuracies in the bores of chambers 28 and 22 and eliminates the necessity for extreme accuracy in the manufacture of these chambers;

Referring to Figure 5 there is shown a dia- .grammatic view of the calibration" by adjustment 88. In this view the ranges of float travel marked maximum, normal and minimum produceangular movements of lever 88 similarly designated. Three positions of pin 88 to give substantially equal or constant angular movements of lever 58' forthese ranges of movement are also indicated from which it will be apparent that screw 88 permits accurate calibration of the instrument for different ranges of movement of the float produced by inaccuracies in the size of the pressure chambers.

Rotation of shaft 88 also rocks lever I8 which swings pointer I8. across an associated dial through link 12 to indicate the instantaneous flow.

As lever 58 moves, it rocks lever H8 and, through the yielding connection II8-I28, the cam lever I88. The cam lever is held by brake I28 except when the crank cam 88 is in the position of Figures 6, 'l, and 8, spring 8 yielding to permit movement of lever H8 in either direction when the cam lever is locked. As crank 88 rotates brake I28 is periodically locked and released and link 88 pulled down and released to raise bell crank lever 88 and release it for swinging movement under the influence of spring 88. Figure 7 shows the zero position of the cam lever with lever 88 raised by the crank, and with brake I28 released, and Figure 8 shows a similar position with the cam lever swung aroimd to a position corresponding substantially to maximum flow.

Figure 9 shows the position of the parts after thepin III israisedabove'the seroshoulder, on the cam lever, the distance between the pin and shoulder constituting lost motion to insure that the brake is engaged before the pin strikes the cam lever.

From the above it will be apparent that the amount of movement oflever 88 is dependent on the position of the cam lever I88 which is so formed and controlled as to limit the movement of lever 88 to be proportional to the flow through the conduit, i. e. to the square root of the differential of the pressures. As lever 88 and lever 82 which is connected thereto are oscillated, lever 88 will'also be oscillated. The lost motion between levers 82 and 88 corresponds to the lost motion between shoulder I28 and the upper position of pin.I I8 so that lever 88'will be moved only after pin I I8 has passed its aero position at shoulder I28. 1

As lever 88 oscillates in a clockwise direction the notched lever slides oyenilange I82 but as itv oscillates in a counterclockwise direction the notch grips the flange and rotates gear ll8. This gear operates the counter which is as to indicate the total flow in pounds, ciibtc teet or other desired units. The gearing is so pro-.

portioned that each movement of lever 88 turns up' on the counter an amount equal to the flow, for which cam lever I88 is set times the length of time required for crank 88 to make one revolution,

say fifteen seconds. Thus the counter gives an accurate indication of the total flow through the conduit over a period of time. If desired a suitable one-way holding device I88 (Figure 3), described in the above-mentioned Grlsdale application, may be provided for preventing reverse rotation of gear I88 under the influence of friction when arm 88 is moving in a clockwise direction.

A novel mounting means is provided according to the invention and as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is constituted by a single. upright support I88 which may conveniently take the form of a pipe to the upper end of which chamber 28 is secured by a bracket I82. A cup-shaped housing I88 is secured to lugs I88 formed integral with or otherwise secured to chamber 28 and the indicating, recording and totaling mechanism described above is mounted in this housing. The electric motor "is preferably enclosed in a separate cupshaped housing i 88 secured to the rear face of housing I88 and having a suitable sealing gasket of rubber or like material around its edge to form a tight seal. Also if desired pointer 18 may extend through a slot in the housing I88 and a separate supplemental housing I88 may be provided to enclose it.

The open ends of housings I88 and I88 are closedby a suitable panel I82 which rests on the edges thereof, suitable rubber sealing gaskets being provided to form a tight seal therebetween. Pointer 18 extends through a slot I58 inpanel I82 and moves across a scale I88 on the front face thereof and the operating mechanism for pen arm- 88 also extends through the panel, the pen arm being mounted on the front face thereof to cooperate with a suitable chart (not shown) carried by shaft I88 in front of the panel. The counter 18 is preferably mounted in the housing I88 and can beread through suitable openings in the panel I82.

A cover I58 having a rubber sealing gasket around its periphery is secured over the panel I82 to enclose the mechanism on the front of the panel 'and has a transparent front as a glass plate I60 through which movements of the indicating, recording and totaling mechanism can be observed. Preferably a separate cover I62 is provided for pointer Wand its scale, but if desired these parts can also be enclosed by cover I58.

A small removable plate M5 is preferably secured to the upper part of housing M4! to permit insertion of a screw driver or the like when removed as indicated in Figure 4, to set the zero and calibration adjustments.

Figures and 11 show a modification of the indicating mechanism in which no permanent record is made and in which movement of .the indicating pointer is amplified to facilitate reading. Parts in these figures corresponding to similar parts in the other figures are designated by the same reference numerals plus 200. In this modification as lever 256 moves it rocks a lever 25! about ashaft 259. Lever 251i is secured to-a gearsegment 26E which meshes with a small pinion 263 so that. small angular movement of the segment will produce alarge angular movement of the pinion. Pinion 263 is secured to a shaft which extends through a panel 352 and carries in front of the panel a pointer 278 which cooperates with a scale 355 on the panel. It will be noted from Figure 11 that the scale 356- extends through an angle of about 270 so that the graduations are large and it is easy to read.

From the above it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel measurimsv instrument which is simple and reliable in construction and operation, which is extremely accurate throughout its entire range and which can be readily. adjusted and calibrated. The recording mechanism provides a permanent record of flow conditions where desired and the totaling mechanism provides a simple and reliable means for showing the total flow overa period of time.

The novel mounting is particularly applicable to the fiowmeter described but it will be apparent that many other types of instruments might be mounted thereon. This arrangement provides an extremely simple unitary mounting for an instrument.

It will be understood that many changes might be made in the form shown without departing from the invention and it is not intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited other than by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An instrument for measuring the flow of fluid through a conduit comprising a chamber containing a column of mercury, connections be tween said chamber and conduit whereby the mercury level will fluctuate with flow rate changes in the conduit, a float in said chamber,

linkage connected to the float and so constructed and arranged that equal increments of movement of the float will produce equal increments of movement of the linkage, totaling mechanism including a rotatable member adapted to rotate.

in one direction only, an oscillating lever for rotating said member, power means for periodically.

oscillating said lever and a second set of linkage connected to said flrst linkage and including a member moved thereby proportionally to the existing rate of flow, said member lying in the path of movement of said lever to limit its oscillating movement proportionally to the existing rate of flow.

2. In a measuring instrument having a mem-- ber movable in accordance with changes in a condition to be measured, a shaft adapted to be driven by said member, a lever mounted on said shaft, a slidable driving connection between said member and lever, and adjustable means mounting the lever on the shaft whereby the effective length of the lever can be adjusted to calibrate the instrument.

3. In a measuring instrument having amember movable inaccordance with changes in a condition to be measured, a shaft adapted to be driven by said member, a lever mounted on said shaft, a slidable driving connection between said member'and lever, indicating mechanism driven by said shaft, and an adjustable screw connection between said lever and shaft whereby the effective length of the lever can be adjusted.

4. In a measuring instrument havinga membermovable in accordance with changes in a condition to be measured, a shaft adapted to be driven by said member, a lever mounted on said shaft, a slidable driving connection between-said member and lever, totaling mechanism connected to said lever to be controlled thereby and a screw connection between saidlever and said shaft to adjust the efiective length of the lever.

5. A measuring instrument comprising a chamber containing a column of mercury whose level fluctuates in response to variations in a condition to be measured, a float in said chamber, a shaft connected to said float to be rotated thereby, a lever carried by said shaft, a second shaft, a second lever, means adjustably mounting the second lever on the second shaft so that its efiective length can be varied to calibrate the instrument, and a pin and slot connection between said levers whereby the second lever and second shaft will be driven by the first-named lever.

- OTTO T. HANDWERK. 

